The bathroom before the writing...

The writing on the wall.

The two bathroom revamps are still in progress..........good grief......i guess that's what happens when you start something during a mercury retrograde......things drag on forever. During a mercury retrograde you're supposed to finish things you started before, revisit your past and contemplate. That's what i feel more than anything - contemplative, not knowing which direction to go in. Mercury goes direct on January 15th. Often during a mercury retrograde communications go haywire, cars, computers, phones, e-mails, miscommunications abound!

Now back to the bathroom revamp.... As you know i love words - tend to put them in most of my art so naturally i wanted to put some words back on the bathroom wall. I wrote the words out on kraft paper and transfered them to the wall with graphite paper. Then i painted the letters with white paint. I'm not sure yet if i want to shade the letters or not. So far i'm liking the results. I've been video taping the bathroom revamp so one of these days i'll post a youtube video for you to see if you are interested in the process. Hopefully you'll be encouraged to use colour and not to fear it - after all you can always paint over it. Adding colour to your decor is one of the quickest and easiest ways to change your environment without spending a fortune.

The Spiritual Seekers Path
My friend Lisa has written an enlightening article about The spiritual seekers path. Check it out. Lisa writes for the Examiner.com. If you have knowledge in a particular area and love to write why not apply to be a writer for the Examiner in your area? It will give you crediblity and make you an expert in your field of interest. I know there are many people who visit my blog who are awesome writers. This might be a good start if you are interested in building a fanbase for the future - if you want to publish in magazines, get your own book etc. Why not turn a new leaf since it's the start of the new year? Go for it!

Khannnnnnnnnn!!!!!! Little Sammy screaming. Jessica quickly snapped this shot with her i-phone and gave the photo this caption. You have to be a Trekkie to appreciate it!

Little Angel Sammy.

This post is going to be an unadulterated bragging post and i'm not ashamed to say it!

Congratulations to my daughter Jessica Leigh Clark-Bojin on her new posting as the Head of Entertainment Business Management at the Vancouver Film School. I am so proud of you Jess! As a child Jessica was wise beyond her years. Her Dad used to play flash cards with her as well as teach her how to read at the age of 2 or 3. Next to saying "mama" and "dada" Jess' first word was "pretty". At age 1 year i pried her chubby fingers apart and put a crayon in her hand guiding her to draw a circle (the beginnings of a face). Jessica went on to become a talented artist and also an awesome business person - she had the unusual blend of both worlds. Many creatives have difficulty marrying the two but not Jess.

Congratulations to my son Ryan and his lovely wife Kathryn on the birth of their son Samuel Reinhard Clark! Welcome to the world Sammy....i hope you like it here!

I seriously am drawing a blank about what to talk about today! Well apart from how exciting it was to see my son, his wife and my new little Grandson.....i'm not sure what to write about. I guess i should not push it if i don't have much to say. Hopefully tomorrow i'll have something to share. I guess i should cut myself some slack and go with the feelings - whatever they may be. I know i don't usually blog on Saturdays but hopefully i will post something tomorrow.......it's back to painting the bathroom mouldings, tiles and such....see you tomorrow!

Hooray! My son is now a Daddy....Ryan and his wife Kathryn just had a baby boy early this morning. We don't know the name yet or how much he weighs or anything - just that new Mommy and baby are well! This little fellow is my first grandchild! I can't wait to meet him later today. Congratulations Ryan and Kathryn! This is such an exciting time in your lives.

The little finger puppets i showed you in December were made for my son to play puppets with the baby.

I don't have too much to say except that i have been doing the happy dance here for the last few hours.....so excited to see the new little one. You can expect to see me making some stuffed animals and kid-like drawings in the next little while....i do hope you will bear with me! talk to you later! xox

Thanks for your Rejection....
Yesterday I received yet ANOTHER rejection.......it went something like β€œthank you for your submission......however it (your project/art) does not suit our present needs.” I have received a KAJILLION rejections over the years.....even though I have enjoyed a certain amount of acceptance and success I still receive rejections. I think I blogged already about the time – many years ago when I was creating political cartoons and received another snail mail rejection – by the way I think snail mail rejections are far worse than e-mail rejections. I decided to send in a rejection in response to my form letter rejection. I rejected the rejection letter – sending it back. The editor obviously thought my response was hilarious and decided to write me back a REAL letter telling me that if I was in fact looking for syndication that I needed to ask for more money. She went on to say how difficult the industry was to break into and gave me some helpful tips. It's not always personal – it could be that the magazine/paper is looking for something more trendy or less complicated or more sturdy and stable or more vintage. Or perhaps it REALLY is personal and that we do need to work more on our technique and hone our skills a bit. This happened to me years ago when I kept submitting to a greeting card company and receiving rejections. The owner (since it was small operation) took the time to tell me I needed to improve my drawing skills – which I did. The next time I sent in some greeting card ideas they were accepted much to my elation! So my point is not to despair if you are wanting to submit your art to magazines or greeting card companies or newspapers – keep doing it and if you can ask for some specific advice as to why the project might be rejected. You won't always get an answer but sometimes you will and that will be helpful. Once I was told that my colours were garish (in a nice way) and I felt kind of hurt but kept doing what I did best – use lots of colour and glitter and stay true to my vision.

Another thing you might want to consider is whether or not you are skipping steps or not following submission guidelines. I think one of the biggest beefs for editors or reporters for that matter is when they receive submissions that are totally in the wrong genre for their publication. It's a big waste of their time. Do your homework and study the publications you are interested in submitting to. Does your art fit within their niche? Are you pitching a graffiti inspired project to a Victorian magazine – that's an obvious faux pas. I certainly have done that in the past. You can however get a bit creative and tweak your project to fit within that niche if you are determined enough. You can create a muted graffiti piece with a vintage edge to it for that matter and submit that.

Put your creative hat on and do what you love and keep submitting if that is your goal. Eventually the rejections won't sting as much and you'll just view them as stepping stones towards acceptance! Woo hoo! You can do it!

The Sizzix bloghop continues
I did not participate in this Sizzix challenge however if you would like to see what these talented designers have created with the latest dies please hop over to Eileen Hull's blog and take a peek! The featured die is the Memo Holder.

I swear an alternate scary Universe lurks beneath the bathroom floor......isn't it freaky looking?

This is the after (not quite finished yet) picture. Mr. G ripped out the flooring and naturally that prompted an entire bathroom revamp. The walls had not been changed in 14 years! Ack!

Next was the bathroom (my bathroom is split just like they often do in Europe)....this room had NEVER been painted in 14 years.....i guess because it's such a tiny room and i was often daunted by the thought of redoing it. Don't ask about the artichoke, star and moon on the wall.....okay......i'll tell you...several years ago i was being interviewed on TV and they asked me to paint something on the wall.......and so i did..........and since i didn't like what i did i left it there and ended up covering it with a painted frame which housed my necklaces and bracelets.

I stuccoed the walls since they were so uneven and then painted a good quality Satin latex paint over top.

As you can see there has not been too much time for art making the last few days as we've had our bathroom and toilet room ripped up........and still......they are not completed yet. The tiles in the bathroom are going to be painted over first with oil based primer and then with a water born something or other.....can't remember what it's called -it's a latex based paint that is supposed to go over tiles. I painted the counter and after looking at the blue paint and wondering what kind of finish or decoration to put on it i heard a request coming from the countertop - "we want white polka dots"........seriously......i did hear it. When i told Mr. G about it he kind of raised his eyebrow....well it was actually a cross between an eye roll and a raised eyebrow. Anyways he was okay with it - God bless him......he's quite conservative but thankfully is open to my quirky tastes. I think the polka dots will have a bit of glitter in them too! And of course much to my chagrin there will be about 4 coats of varnish on top.....which means we won't be able to use the counter top for a few more days! The chair rail in the toilet room is going to be painted white. Above the chair rail i plan on writing (in white) some inspirational words so that you can be inspired while doing your business. I did feel badly painting over the inspirational quotations from before however i think a run of 14 years is pretty good don't you think? The toilet floor was rotting away and every time i sat on the john i could feel myself sinking more and more.....and the creaking was scaring me....i envisioned myself falling through the floor. Isn't it funny how one little thing sets off a whole chain reaction?

Well i'm off to paint polka dots and the backs of doors and inspirational words! Catch ya later! xo

Bib Necklace


Mr. G and yours truly

Susan and Rob

I hope you all had a wonderful holiday and feel rested? I am still feeling the after effects of the full moon and lunar eclipse. It's a time of endings and re-evaluating things from the past - letting go of things that no longer serve us and allowing space for the new to enter. I can sense that change is in the air but don't really know how it will manifest. Being the impatient nosy person that i am this is a difficult but necessary place to be. I need to embrace the uncertainty! Also the eclipse bring news of major events - such as the birth of a child. Any day now my daughter-in-law Kathryn will be having a baby! So how true it is!

Mr. G and i decided to ring in the New Year with friends - Susan, Rob, Alan and Sheila at the local pub. It's pretty comical because last year we went to the Legion to ring in the New Year - the average age of the party goers was about 75 or 80 - so we were the young whipper snappers! This year the average age was 20 something.....so we were the geriatrics! There were two comedians that nite and they kept referring to our table as the "shiny top table" (Susan and Sheila had tops on with sequins) or The Golden Girls - our friend Sheila kept being referred to as Grandma! The food was awesome and the company was lovely - even though there was not a dance floor we managed to dance a bit in between the tables!

Wouldn't you know it I decided on New Year's eve that i absolutley HAD to make myself a bib necklace. Even though bib necklaces are all the rage right now i've been fascinated with them for over 20 years when i was given a zulu warrior necklace (which i'm guessing was the inspiration for the last couple of seasons fascination with bib necklaces). I was having I'm-fat-and-look-ugly-moment and just wanted to wear black to look thinner. I knew that i needed some kind of focal piece if i was going to wear all black so decided to make this necklace. It's fashioned from paper cloth (the background/base), silk flowers, paper, a bezel with one of my illustrations on it, beads, gems and glitter.

So there i was making a necklace to wear out that night - i was feeling rather emotional (i blame it on the full moon). I was hoping that the bib necklace would turn out so that i didn't have a meltdown. How silly.....thankfully the results of my eleventh hour crafting session turned out and i was a happy little camper!

I'm thinking of formulating a list of things i would like to accomplish for 2010....when i do i'll post it here! Do you have any resolutions you would like to share? If so please leave them on the messageboard! Thanks! xoxo.

My yayas – yours truly, Cheri and Pam. Both Pam and Cheri have overcome some major health challenges and are doing great! They came over for a visit a couple of days ago. It's always wonderful to get together with your good friends.

The jewelry that Chloe and Isabella sold to me on Christmas eve. They were selling door to door.

Isabella and Chloe working on their self-esteem kits yesterday.

The sketch I did as I chatted with the girls while they worked on their craft.

Yesterday Isabella and Chloe (my neighbours from down the street) came over to work on self-esteem kits. It was so cute listening to them chat about life, popular culture (tv shows, singers, movies) and art. I think they enjoyed simply being in a creative environment and doing something a bit different. On Christmas eve the girls came knocking on our door selling jewelry with their friend. It would seem they had learned a few tricks from their Mom Scarlett who is a representative/stylist (and a designer) for Stella and Dot - a jewelry line.

When Chloe and Isabella came to the door I was blown away by how organized they were...first they gave me a custom made necklace with my name on it (they spelt it wrong but I didn't care – I was just impressed with the gift). They had a tray with the jewelry displayed on it, they even had sets (as you see in the above photo), they had a variety of price points ranging from .50 cents (for a ring which promptly broke) up to 2.00 for a set (bracelet and necklace). One person was in charge of the presentation tray, another one with holding the price sheet......yes......they actually had a handwritten price sheet! It was too cute. Another person had a paper and pencil to figure out how much things tallied up to. I ended up buying a few more items than you see here. Most of the items broke – so yesterday I suggested (this is research and development) that they add a drop of glue to the knot to hold it in place. The little one – Chloe said yesterday that it might be a good idea to create a catalog of the items to give people.

You can see how influenced they have been by their Mom's business. They actually have been watching what she does and are now duplicating it. Can you imagine being exposed to this sort of thing when you are young? When you get older then you have a base to go from – you don't fear selling nor are you daunted by all of the many hats you have to wear.

Lesson's Learned
This is what I learned from Chloe and Isabella (you might want to take a page from their book):

-When selling something always give away a small gift to entice your customer to keep coming back or to buy more....or just to be nice.
-Display things in sets
-have a variety of price points available
-have a price sheet or catalog to hand out
-be pleasant and courteous
-never underestimate the cute-ness factor – if you are selling in person make sure you look presentable and smile a lot (like the girls are doing in the photo).

Happy New Year everyone....thank you so much for letting me into your life this past year - thank you for all of your kind comments and for buying my book! I hope 2010 finds you being deliriously creative and happy!

Lots of love,
Violette xoxo

Not too much to report today - the above image is a sneak peek of the new banner background for my website/blog. My daughter and son are helping to recreate a new website for me on wordpress.com. This is so that it's easier for Mr. G and i to manage - it will definitely be simplified and will reflect my personality more. I'm pretty excited to get this new site going so that the new year will feel like i'm starting fresh.

Today i'm having 2 little girls from down the street over to create some art in the studio - i think we'll work on Self-esteem booklets - it will be fun for the girls to colour, embellish and fancy up their books. I think that Mom's with kids at home for the holidays are running out of things to do with them. So i must get busy and clean up the studio so it's not too chaotic when the girls arrive!

Ciao for now.

I'm creating this freaky little guy to sell up on etsy.........i'm not exactly sure how he'll look in the end but i have a rough idea. The legs are going to dangle so he needs to be sitting on a shelf or ledge. So i have to think about what to use for feet....any ideas? I thought maybe of creating feet out of paperclay. I've already spent quite a bit of time creating this character and must bear in mind that it's got to be affordable but not take forever to make. Ahhhhhhhh the joys of prototyping! This little freaky guy is getting his own personality. Yesterday he told me to go to the hardware store to source out some legs for him. I'm sure this character or the ones to follow will undergo a variety of incarnations before i am happy (actually before HE is happy!).

I think it's important to talk about your process - and how things don't always work out the first time or the second or even the third. Prototyping in any industry contains a fair amount of trail and error - and......listening to the "character" to see what he actually wants to become. Okay.....it really is your intution guiding you along in the act of creation.

Yesterday on my walk i was thinking (after the daily ritual of hugging my tree) that i'd like to make a clay/paperclay woman (me) with roots or branches growing out of the torso......afterall that's what i'm invisioning as i'm hugging my special tree.

How can you transform an experience or snippet of conversation into a piece of art? An overheard conversation can spawn a journal page or a small quiltlet. The world - your world is full of grist for the mill. Your job (should you choose to accept it) is to translate it in YOUR UNIQUE way. Just get out of your own way and do it!